(AD), an American-based manufacturer of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and cloud solutions provider for commercial drone operations, announced that it has purchased 50% of the capital of Aerialtronics, an end-to-end solutions developer in the Netherlands that uses drones, artificial intelligence (AI) and IoT data to provide real-time insights for a variety of business operations.
The $9 million US dollar transaction is the latest acquisition for AD in its continued commitment to becoming a full-scale, global leader in the UAS industry. Aerialtronics is a subsidiary of Drone Volt (DV), a publicly traded French manufacturer of professional civil drones and embedded AI, with which AD partnered in October, 2020.
“Our new ownership of this highly-advanced Dutch company further allows us to access years of cutting-edge research and development in UAS technology to fill our national void with competitively-priced, American-made drone products,” said Barry Alexander, Founder and CEO of Aquiline Drones. “With the commercial drone sector expected to double to over $42 billion by 2025, we are in a powerful position to deliver total planetary protection with our comprehensive drone ecosystem.”
Specifically, Aerialtronics produces the popular Altura Zenith, an extremely versatile commercial drone and the Pensar smart camera, a multispectral sensor, complete with artificial intelligence and edge computing capabilities. AD’s current exclusive manufacturing and distribution licensing agreements with DV allow for the global production of both products, along with the Hercules 2, a durable, lightweight and compact UAV. AD is re-branding both drone models as its own Spartacus MACKS and Spartacus Hurricane line of UAVs.
Alexander reports that the recent transaction was based on Aerialtronics being valued at $17.92 million USD/15 million euros. Drone Volt will retain operational control of Aerialtronics and will therefore continue to consolidate 100% of its subsidiary in its accounts.
‘We are pleased to pool our resources around our artificial intelligence subsidiary to accelerate our shared growth. We are once again demonstrating our ability to leverage our leading technological know-how in a sector where innovation and expertise remain key elements for future development,” said Marc Courcelle, CEO of Drone Volt.
“This is another step forward in the Aquiline Drones-Drone Volt partnership and strengthens our commitment to each other to ensure we do what we can to move both brands forward optimally,” adds Alexander. “We intend to continue investing in technology, marketing, and sales with the goal of becoming a US leader in professional civil UAVs. This is why we have set the goal of going public by the end of the year to finance our investments and growth.”
Source: Press Release
UAS is officially “unmanned aircraft system”, not “unmanned aerial system”.